Cloudsurfer

OK, in the Durametric menu go to Motronic, then look for Drive Links. There you have the opportunity of turning on and off the advance mech.

Interesting. I will try this out today. Thank you!

mine is the VarioCam. I can't start the Durametric program on my desktop. You have to have the connector plugged in to the car and the ignition on. I also have it on an old laptop but the battery is dead. I will see if I can attach it today and figure out exactly how I did it.

If you get a chance, fantastic, if not, I'll dig in the menus next week when I get a chance.

I have the Durametric and it allows you to turn the advance on and off. It has been a while since I did it and I would have to hook it up to remember exactly how I did it.

I have access to both a PST and a Durametric. If you can find how to test the advance, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Also, is this for a VarioCam or VarioCam Plus setup, or both?

If there were a way to positively, diagnostically test the hydraulic solenoids as opposed to just watching the values as the motor runs across the RPM range, that would be fantastic. I, however, do not know of any way to do that, so if someone does I would love to rule out a hydraulic solenoid issue and just focus on working out the MAF issues and getting the motor happy.

I'm open to ideas from anyone who can give them :)

I'm not particularly sure that you can, unless either the PST II or PIWIS has some way of causing the solenoid to function as a test. Generally, when these units go bad, they tend to totally crap out or they become obvious (poor performance, codes, etc.). I have not seen one that ran well or didn't throw codes............

You can watch the specified angles and the actual angles with the PST. What this shows me, is that in my case, the bank one solenoid appears to be laggy.

Here's the problem I have: I'm not throwing any codes, but the car coughs and sputters just off idle if given moderate throttle input, but, if given a very smooth, minor throttle input, it revs up smoothly. Whether that is the difference between how the DME commands the intake cams to move, and by how much, I'm not sure. However, since I just got this motor into the car, and the fact that the entire setup is anything but stock, it's difficult to say if that is being caused by one bank's variocam solenoid, or by MAF issues, or simply the fact that the motor is going to need a custom tune.

To add more info: The motor was 3.6 based, but now displaces 3.8 liters, with 13:1 compression, and the intake system is all silicone hose and hard pipe, with the MAF (Cayman S MAF to specify, which has the flow smoothing grids) directly before the silicone 90 elbow to the throttle body, and the BMC air filter directly before the MAF, separated by a 90 hard pipe. The throttle body is also mounted "upside down" (with the plug on the bottom, not top) such that it would clear the engine cover in a Boxster. Not sure if it matters for the sake of this discussion, but the intake manifold is also reversed to work in the Boxster. The exhaust is B&B Cayman S headers, into a Fabspeed Cayman S dual canister exhaust. It's currently running the RoW EU2 X51 program so that I do not get faults for having no cats and no secondary O2 sensors.

While the engines cam timing may not be EXACTLY spot on (if it is, in fact, off a bit, that's a while separate discussion to fix), it's certainly within a few degrees, and those few degrees certainly would not cause these issues. I'm also not sure I'm sold on the fact that one bank's variocam solenoid could cause this either, but I've been surprised by smaller things in life so who knows.

Forgot to add.... once the motor is past 3k, loaded or not, heavy throttle or light, it's buttery smooth......

Found the F5 filter, wow is that helpful! As to the readings I'm getting, the deviations are 4 and 5 using the PST (both positive), and when I compare the "spec cam timing" to the "actual cam timing" the values seem right where they should be (0 at idle, and then increasing with RPM), except it appears that the Bank 1 values are "lazy." Possibly bad hydraulic valve on that side? When actuating the valve lift solenoids, all that seems to be fine.

Going down that road, if I remember from when I assembled the motor, the valve covers have to come off to get at the hydraulic valves, yes?

Yes, you will need to pull the cover. You are going to need to lock the cams down prior to pulling the actuator. Before reinstallion, you need to compress the valve using a special tool , or I've also seen it done with an improvised C-clamp setup. More nit-pickey than difficult, but dealer get a ton of $ to do this, I've seen quotes over $3K.....

Well, before I go and do all that, what is the best way to determine if it is, in fact, a bad variocam hydraulic solenoid?

Found the F5 filter, wow is that helpful! As to the readings I'm getting, the deviations are 4 and 5 using the PST (both positive), and when I compare the "spec cam timing" to the "actual cam timing" the values seem right where they should be (0 at idle, and then increasing with RPM), except it appears that the Bank 1 values are "lazy." Possibly bad hydraulic valve on that side? When actuating the valve lift solenoids, all that seems to be fine.

Going down that road, if I remember from when I assembled the motor, the valve covers have to come off to get at the hydraulic valves, yes?

Go to actual values, hit F5 (filter) this will bring up a number of predefined actual value subsets including all possible actual value data. If you select engine, the camshaft deviations will be there. You can also create your own filter subsets containing the values you want to look at together as a group. The deviation values are the same for the later motors as the early motors, the total advance is simply greater

and not actuated in an all or none fashion but via a pulse width modulation of the solenoids making them infinitely adjustable. Seeing you used the factory tools and the fact that the tabs for the hall sensors on the cams are easily tweaked they are likely the source of your deviation values being high rather than the actual cams being out of time.

-Todd

I'll try this tomorrow. I'm 99% positive I did not damage any of the tabs on the cams when handling them, but who knows.

Should I be comparing the actual values vs the expected values, as opposed to the deviation #?

I'm curious why you say the pst doesn't allow viewing it. You certainly can. See this post for an explanation of cam deviation.

http://www.renntech....__1#entry175209

That post was VERY informative. Thank you.

What section of the PST menu is this available under? I've looked under "actual values," "drive links," etc and I can't find it. That said, I have been reading the numbers off the Durametric, so however you get the numbers, for a VarioCam Plus motor, what should I be looking at to verify things?

It's a 3.6 X51 based engine, which is now a 3.8 courtesy of LN sleeves and JE pistons and R&R rods. Car is a 2003 Boxster S with 7.8 DME, coded as a 996 3.6 X51 RoW program.

Anyone? ......

I have an LN sleeved 3.6 X51 based engine (that is now a 3.8). I purchased the timing tool kit from Baum when I built the motor, and triple checked everything before the thing went into the car. Now, when reading the deviation values off the Durametric tool (also curious why the PST does not allow you to see this?), I get 5 on one bank and 7 on the other. I then went as far as re-checking the timing with the engine in the car (which is a HUGE PITA), and things are spot on. So, why do I not get a reading of 0? 5 and 7, respectively, seem absurdly high, yet I am told that as long as the value is under 8 it is ok.

I realize that on the intake, it may be a bit of a non issue, as the VarioCam can move the cam to wherever the DME wants it, but the exhaust is fixed, so any error that is in the system is always going to be there.

Can someone here shed some further light on this? I'd really like these values to read 0!!!

I'm sorry I didn't clarify previously, this is the underdrive pulley, from RSS, designed for the M97 3.8. As shown, once you give the boss a haircut, and use the longer bolt, it fits great. I would like to think the addition of harmonic damping is a good thing for all of these motors.

Pulley fits perfectly fine once you give the fixing boss a haircut and add the longer bolt.

Did you order the longer bolt too? I think the bolt is longer on the 3.8.

Assuming the pulley fits without issues, I'll order the correct bolt and washer, I think both are different, and I know the bolt is longer.

Well I have just ordered the RSS 3.8 underdrive pulley, with integral damper. So we'll see if this fits on a 3.6 motor or not, and what modifications are needed, if any.

Does anyone have any info regarding making the 3.8 harmonic damper work with an M96 3.6 engine? Best I can tell, the damper simply installs behind the pulley, which is the same part # as the rest of these motors, so unless I'm missing something, the 3.8 must have a completely different accessory belt alignment to compensate for the main pulley being farther away from the engine?

Is anyone making an aftermarket damped pulley to work with the rest of these motors?

I would imagine that it's either a 2.5 or 3.2 that was removed for a conversion. You will be able to break down the engine code to determine it's displacement. They read something like M96/01, M96/03, etc.

As to looking up history of the motor, that's a bit more complicated. You can't call Porsche and give them an engine serial # and expect to get service records and vehicle history from that. Heck, many dealers that I've tried getting records from over the years (where I owned the entire car and wanted some more background) wouldn't even give that info out without a signed consent form from whoever was the owner of record when the car was serviced at their facility (for liability reasons). I'd say unless you can get the VIN from the donor car it's going to be impossible to track down maintenance history. Even then, depending upon who you're dealing with, you may or may not be able to obtain any further info.

I believe the # that you referenced above is a head serial #, which by the way, will not match left to right, nor match the serial # of the case halves due to the way that Porsche ran these things off the assembly line (they actually use the same head castings left and right, so essentially engine # 83190831 may get head # 31318 on the left and 31319 on the right, or a totally different #).

Most CVs can be disassembled, but there is usually no reason to do so unless the car was driven an extended period with a bad boot, thus contaminating the grease. If the CV is burned to a crisp, just replace it. If the joint is smooth and quiet, and the grease looks good, just repack with grease and put the new boot on.

ABSOLUTELY replace your clutch!

I would absolutely find out why the car is not running before considering buying it.... Where in IA is the car?

While this problem may be caused by vehicle wiring, it is possible that you simply have a failing HID capsule. As they fail, they will often flicker for the last part of their lives. Most of us probably don't have enough hours on our headlights, but I'm sure some of us have enough to experience a failing bulb.

You can shine a light in from the side with the wheels turned one way, but you won't be able to pull the bellows off the rack to actually inspect things. Obviously, if you can see fluid leaking past the bellows, you are due for a rack, but if the leak isn't that bad (or you don't have one at all, which is what you hope) you're going to need to pull the undertray and the bellows to accurately inspect the rack.

Shockingly, when I replaced my rack, it was not that much work. What's unfortunate, is that I was not able to find anyone marketing a seal kit to rebuild these racks, so was forced to buy a new one (which I oddly found a great deal on due to a dealer's mistake in ordering parts).

If you're set on a 3.4, you can do things one of two ways: either keep your 5.2 DME and cable throttle, and use a non E-gas 3.4 (with 3.4 cable throttle body) and run the 3.4 map in your 5.2 DME, or upgrade to a 7.2 DME and E-gas 3.4. If you're going to swap DMEs, I would go for a 3.6, or even better, a 3.8 and use a 7.8 DME with E-gas. You will need to update your ABS controller along with the 7.2 or 7.8 DME if you want to retain functional cruise control.

You'll certainly need a stronger clutch, and a Stage 3 SPEC would be great. If you wind up with a 3.6 or 3.8 you'll need Cayman headers and midpipes. The 6-speed gearbox, while certainly a stouter box, does have its downsides as far as gear ratios go. Many prefer the 5-speed's drivability, but you need to be aware of the fact that it is not as strong a box as the 6-speed.

If you want decent bass in the car, just build a small sealed enclosure into the passenger footwell. I am running a JL 8W0 in mine, along with 6 1/2's in the doors (I have Hertz MLK3 system), and even on the highway, top down, the sound in incredible.

See pics.